Hi everyone! It's time for the a weekly battle challenge, and the challenge this week is the Venari Knifer.
About the Monster
Venari Knifer
Venari Knifer is a common card with a decent tanking stats. It has 2 Attack and 7 Health, is fast with a speed of 5, and has the Thorns ability at level 1. At level 6, it gains an additional Backfire ability. Its main drawback is that it does not have any Shield to absorb more melee or ranged damage. The stats are great at level 10 though. If used as a tank, it's best to pair it with a monster with the Taunt ability like the Mycelic Slipspawn to draw away some initial damage. The version I'm using is the level 3 gold one which has 3 Attack, with a reduction in Health (6).
Ruleset
Healed Out: All healing abilities are removed from Monsters and Summoners
Only the Life, Earth and Dragon Splinters can be used
Mana Cap: 42
Cards & Line Up
vs 
 |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Position | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venari Knifer | It has high damage (3) and decent health (6) and reflects Melee damage. |
| 2 | Mycelic Slipspawn | It's main purpose here is to draw some initial damage away from the Venari Knifer. It helps that it gets 3 Magic attack from the Summoner Buffs |
| 3 | Regal Peryton | It’ll benefit from the +1 Magic attack boost and acts as the third tank. It’s high speed of 6 and Fly ability also allows it a good chance to dodge attacks. |
| 3 | Magi of Chaos | It has high Magic attack (2+1). |
| 4 | Goblin Psychic | It has high Magic attack (2+1) to help kill off the opponent's tank fast. It can't heal in this ruleset. |
| 5 | Hunter Jarx | Placed in the last position, as it has 3 Attack and the Snipe ability, which will hopefully help kill off some ranged attack if the opponent uses a ranged strategy. |
Strategy
This strategy utilises the Thorns ability to do good damage to the opponent's tank (3 damage plus 2 reflected damage from Thorns), since Monsters have no Shields in this ruleset. The Mycelic Slipspawn is critical in this strategy to draw most of the initial damage away from the Venari Knifer. I was also counting on high Magic damage to kill off the tank fast, which was why I had the Regal Peryton, Magi of Chaos and Goblin Psychic in position 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Hunter Jarx is used to hit any ranged Monsters that the opponent employs.
Thoughts about the Card
I like the Venari Knifer, as it is fast, has high attack and also the the Thorn ability. However, its health is not that high as a tank and has no shields. It is great for the Unprotected ruleset if paired with a Monster with the Taunt ability.